With scores of 25-18, 14-25, 14-25, 25-19 and 15-6, Ann Arbor Rudolf Steiner earned the victory and advanced to the second round of the Class D State Tournament.

Erin Rajewski played a pivotal role for Rudolf Steiner with 10 service points, despite missing part of the second set due to illness.

"I told her she could continue to sit, but we're not going to win this if you don't go in," Rudolf Steiner co-coach Alex Perrin said. "She went back in second half of second half of the second set. You could tell she was kind of laboring a bit there, but she came back and pulled us through."

Rudolf Steiner co-coach Alex Perrin said that both teams got off to a slow start.

"Both teams just really came out poorly," Perrin said. "I think in the first set, I'd say that (Newport Lutheran South) just played worse than we did. Our team just really couldn't get started and we weren't playing anywhere near our capability."

After dropping consecutive sets, Rudolf Steiner was down 2-1 before it found its rhythm.

"In that fourth set, we got it together and said, "We don't want to lose now,'" Perrin said. "(Lutheran South) started breaking down and having a little bit of trouble and we were able to carry that energy into the fifth set."

Perrin said that the team must improve before its next match if it hopes to continue its post-season success.

"If we play like this on Thursday, our season will be over," Perrin said. "I think part of it was everybody, instead of working together, was trying to be a hero. Instead of working to support the team, they'd go beyond what they were supposed to do."